Sydney Thunder have been bowled out for the lowest total in men's T20 cricket history as the Adelaide Strikers had a field day at Sydney Showground Stadium
Match Report:
ScorecardStrikers obliterate Thunder for record-low total
The Adelaide Strikers have produced the best bowling display in men's T20 cricket history, bowling the Sydney Thunder out for just 15.
The Thunder looked in control after restricting the Strikers to 9-139 after losing the toss and being sent into the field on Friday night but were bowled out in 35 balls to come up well short of the previous record for the lowest score in the KFC BBL (57). It was also the lowest total in men's T20 cricket off all-time, eclipsing Turkey's 21 against the Czech Republic in 2019.
"I don't have much to say about that, to be honest," Thunder captain Jason Sangha said, after their 124-run defeat.
"I could sit here and I could dive into what went wrong and what we could have done better.
"But at the end of the day, it's just not good enough for a professional team to get bowled out for that little."
Henry Thornton (5-3) and Wes Agar (4-6) ran riot as the Thunder limped to 6-9 in the powerplay, and were all out just eleven balls later.
Adelaide's two marquee bowlers Peter Siddle and Rashid Khan did not even need to bowl such was the rapid nature of the Thunder's collapse.
Specialist quick Brendan Doggett top-scored for the Thunder with only four runs, scored from the sole boundary of an innings that lasted less than 40 minutes.
The Strikers once again had success by starting their innings with spinner Matt Short, who dispatched of Matthew Gilkes with a length ball that the opener hit to point.
It was Gilkes' second duck from as many balls this tournament but the Strikers were only getting started.
Short took an early contender for catch of the tournament by jumping in the slips for a one-handed grab to dismiss Rilee Rossouw, whose three runs made him the highest scorer of the out-and-out batters.
Thornton had captain Jason Sangha only two balls later as the second of five ducks for the innings, before Agar found Alex Hales' outside edge also for a duck.
Image Id: EA6A77CED1C74F1B9E0BDAA9517E1697It leaves the Thunder with some serious soul-searching to do following a demoralising innings with the potential to derail a season.
Earlier, Chris Lynn and Colin de Grandhomme forged a 66-run partnership for the only real highlight of the Strikers' modest 9-139 innings first up.
But it proved to be more than enough as the Strikers moved to two from two to start the season.